This invention relates generally to an electronic assembly and more particularly to an electronic assembly that includes a header connector that is attached to a printed circuit board.
Printed circuit boards are often equipped with a header connector for receiving a mating electrical connector on the end of a wiring harness. Such header connector connectors for printed circuit boards generally comprise a plastic connector body that houses male terminals. The male terminals have projecting tails that extend through holes of the printed circuit board. These projecting tails are soldered to the printed circuit board to make electrical connections as well as attach the header connector to the printed circuit board mechanically. The plastic connector body may have plastic flex locks to hold the header connector in place until the solder process is complete. See for instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,513 issued to Randy Lynn Fink et al. Nov. 25, 1997.
Electronic components are usually mounted on the printed circuit board independently of the header connector using solder reflow techniques. Since the independently mounted electronic devices are not contained within the header connector, the soldering of the electronic device does not secure the header connector to the printed circuit board. Attempts to secure a plastic header connector without soldering has not produced a reliably held and positioned header connector.